Riddle me this, my dear
by whovianpunk
Summary: A girl who's looking to be amazed, and a man who prides himself on being amazing. What happens when this troublesome girl working as a receptionist at the asylum encounters The Riddler himself.
1. The Madhouse

_'I counted the shadows. One, two, three. I found their owners. A crow, a lamp post, a tree.'_ This is how it was in Gotham. I had never been thrilled on the idea of moving from my small town in Maine, to a big city like this; and I especially wasn't accustomed to living on my own. Or walking home alone at night. Curse my work schedule. But, money was tight so I was given little room to complain. I got myself stuck in the most crime populated areas in america. I'm a genius.

I had to admit, there was a glamorous allure that led me here. The fact that there was a masked vigilante that ran around the city, and incredibly devious villains lurking behind every corner. It keeps everyone on their toes to the point where it amazes me everyone didn't flee from this war zone years ago. I stared at my dingy apartment as I arrived home and sighed silently to my self at what a shit hole I live in. Turning the key into the lock, the door was jammed again. I gave it a little push and it came wide open with a cloud of dust going down my throat. I'd drink some water to stop my coughing but no one in Gotham in their right mind would ever use the faucet water after how many incidents have occurred with villains contaminating the water supply. I decided to run a bath and get dressed for bed, at least I had all tomorrow to work on my poems before going to work. I love writing. It's truly a passion of mine. During work, in between filling out paperwork, I would either watch Doctor Who on my laptop or work on my writing. My biggest dream in the world was to be an accomplished writer. Someone to inspire others, so they could have someone to relate to. I had always wished I had had someone who understood me. '_One day', _I thought.

The next morning I got up, had breakfast and obsessively started on my poems. However, I always started my day with a reading of one of my favorite poems. I used it as kind of a fortune telling for the day. This one read:

_"I know the bottom, she says._ _I know it with my great tap root;_ _It is what you fear._ _I do not fear it: I have been there._ _Is it the sea you hear in me,_ _Its dissatisfactions?_ _Or the voice of nothing, that was you madness?_ _Love is a shadow..." _ _-Sylvia Plath_

I'm a receptionist at Arkham Asylum. A terrible job, I realize. They've never even really had a receptionist before me, but they needed one to handle job applications and to talk back and forth with the police and court about incoming patients. I sat behind my little glass box, separating me from the inmates. This is what it was like every day. I had been here a month and every time a high level inmate would walk through that door with guards at their side, I'd sink back into my chair and cringe. They always stared at me through the glass as I helped the guards fill out the necessary paperwork. They could feel my fear, and I was truly afraid.

So why would I ever take such an awful job? I got a certain kind of rush from fear truthfully. And I was so bored, so so bored. I didn't want to be confined to a life of normality. I wanted a rush. And working at the asylum, even in such a simple job; it truly gave me that rush.

I glanced over to the TV to hear that The Riddler still hasn't been found. After he broke out of the asylum three weeks before I started working here, he still hasn't been found. Apparently he's been leaving dark riddles for the commissioner. Therefore the police were a little uneasy and working around the clock to find and contain him.

I started working on my part of the forms to fill out for the arrival of Becky Albright. I was pretty fearful about her arrival. She's actually very sweet and often makes small talk with me while the guard fills out his part of the forms. But she was coming alone this time. Jonathan Crane wasn't currently at the Asylum. Therefore I knew he would be coming to get her. I only hoped it wouldn't be during the night shift.

"Ms. Denton..." I turned away from my TV to see one of the night guards with Becky cuffed standing next to him.

"Hello Ame" Becky smiled with a playful roll of her eyes that said, _'Here I am again, did you miss me?'_.

Everyone knew me as Amethyst and everyone called me Ame (pronounced Am-ee).Sometimes people confused it for annie. It didn't really bother me. I had legally changed my name when I was eighteen. I had a habit of collecting crystals and amethyst has always been my favorite. So it just kinda stuck.

"Wheres Jonathan?" I asked and then immediately regretted asking.

She giggled and stated, "Oh he'll be here soon."

The guard and I exchanged glances of _'Oh fuck here we go'._

It's nights like these where I think somewhere in the budget some money should be spent on employee gas masks.

It was gonna be a long night.


	2. Fear

I nervously compiled paperwork on her desk. My desk phone started ringing and it was Commissioner Gordon.

" Yes, Hello , I need you to pull me some files out of the records office on the Riddler, I have a source who says there might be some valuable information hidden in there. It'll either be filed under his Alias Edward Nygma or Edward Nashton. I'll send someone over in about an hour to pick it all up."

"Alright, but what exactly am I supposed to be looking for commissioner? Commissioner?

Hello?" Bastard hung up on me. What an ass. I unlocked the records office located conveniently in my little glass box. However, the records office was far from small. It had long dark corridors that seem to go on forever, and broken, flickering lights that had a habit of going on and off at anytime. It was creepy to say the least and I tried to avoid having to go in there as often as possible.

I walked through the corridors searching for the files. It was easy to get paranoid being alone in here. Although the only way in to the office was through my glass box, so I shouldn't of been worried. Still I saw shadows go by, and I could've sworn I heard giggling. But it was just my imagination running wild. I suffered from severe paranoia for years, so I learned to ignore my fears. Overturning piles of disorganized files.

Searching through, I uncovered Jonathan Crane's file box. This terrified me as it brought me back to the real possibility he was coming tonight.

_Jonathan Crane_...

Alias: _Scarecrow_...

Brown Hair...Brown Eyes...Height: 5'8...

Diagnosis: Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

He has an ego and rightfully so. His credentials were outstanding. A professor, scientist, Explorer of the human mind. It was quite interesting.

Next, I came across the box that I was suppose to be searching for that read "Edward Nygma" . There were hundreds of files in the box, mostly riddles and criminal papers, patient interview tapes, and ... personal files. I knew I should've just shut the box, and set it in my room for delivery, but...I was curious. I opened them up and took a peek.

_Edward Nashton_

Alias:_ The Riddler_

Red hair...green eyes...Height: 5'10...

Diagnosis: Obsessive Compulsive and Dependent Personality Disorder.

This was interesting. He had revealed in an interview the origin of his fascination with riddles and when it began. He had won a school contest that required the participants to solve a mind boggling riddle, and in return he was awarded a riddle book that now currently resides in the asylum's archives. That's sad. Something so special to him, and it was being locked up in the asylum. For what purpose? A kids riddle book couldn't do anyone harm. And it's obvious it must be nostalgic to him if he's kept it all these years. I read along further and discovered that his mother had left him and his father at a young age. And that his father was very abusive to him. The more I read, the more I felt. My heart went out to the guy. I knew what it was like to be mistreated. I knew what it was like to put full trust in someone to love and protect you and instead have them be the person you fear at night.

I stashed the file back in it's box and returned to my desk and waited for Gordon's men to come and collect it. A newsflash came on the screen and it flashed to another report of the Riddler.

"The riddler has made another attack against Gotham's justice system as Judge Donnely was found dead in an alleyway with The Riddler's signature green question mark drawn on his chest and an incriminating riddle written on his back. "What gets broken without being held?" That was simple... A promise. I opened up the Riddler's box again and started looking through the files and realized that Judge Donnely was almost always the judge at the Riddler's hearings. I was interested in the full story, but I was just a secretary, so I'll never know the full story.

Perhaps I should pass on the information to Commissioner Gordon, but I'm sure him and his team have already figured it out. As I was thinking, I felt my tiny office shake and a bang. Was than an earthquake? Another shake rippled underneath me. I decided to look up online if an earthquake had just occurred and if anyone else felt it. Usually everyone was in a panic at the smallest disturbance and I didn't find anything on...huh? I heard it. Behind me. The door knob to the records office was twisting. No. Just my paranoia. Just my imagination. There was a panic button under my desk. I would surely get in trouble if it was nothing. And it was nothing… The door creaked open, I could hear it clearly. My mind wasn't making this up…no… someone was behind me, and I dare not look. All of a sudden I saw it. A powdered gas engulf me. My senses were shot, I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. I just collapsed.

—

Where am I? There was a blinding light, and my eyes fought to adjust. A hospital?

" , I'm going to have to check your blood now for foreign substances."

I nodded my head slowly.

"Now don't worry, this won't…hurt…a…bit." His voice grew deeper with each word.

_Holy Shit! No please don't!_ I tried to scream this out loud but no words came out.

The needle was thick and long and…impossible. I screamed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - — - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Where am I now? A bedroom? It's pink and frilly. Disgusting. It's quiet…No , it's loud…very loud. Outside of the room…. I creaked the door open. I don't recognize…wait. My parents?

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was loud. Why was my mom here? I didn't grow up with her. She wasn't allowed to visit. _Bang Bang ._ A small voice ran through the hallway.

"_Daddy!" she screamed. _She disappeared in the middle of the hallway. My mother sobbed, and then looked up and stared directly at the crack in the door. She saw me.

_BANG_

_BANG_

—

"Come on Nygma, Leave her."

"She's just a simple secretary, you really didn't need to give her such a lethal dose. She's harmless. Lucky for her, I expected this."

"Aww c'mon. Those antidotes were a gift for you."

"And I am inclined to use them as I so wish."

"Well hurry up, we need to grab Becky and get out of here before the guards show up."

"Ms. Denton! Oh my god!" The officer took his radio off his person.

"Requesting back up, possible foul play at the asylum! Requesting immediate help!"

The alarms sounded. The guard pulled out an unconscious Amethyst out of the contaminated room.

The intercom came on, " All guards to the west wing. The Riddler and Scarecrow have been spotted. There's been a prison break, inmates are running everywhere, proceed with caution.

All staff is requested to board themselves up in the nearest offices and remain quiet and in cover until further notice."

_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - — - - - - - — - - - — — - - - - - - - — - - - - — - - - - - - - - - — - - - - - — — — - - - - -_

"Ms. Denton? Oh thank god, your waking up. You're in the medical wing. I was able to run you over before the chaos started. We're in lock down, I'm going to need you to stay here with and . I have to go assist the other officers."

"Ms. Denton, I'm . The toxins are out of your system now but you're going to be a little woozy for a while, so get up slowly. You're very luck, the dose proved to be lethal but it seems you were injected with some kind of anti-virus. Which is very strange since even Gotham's best scientists haven't come up with anything of the sort. You certainly have an angel looking out for you."

_How? I should be dead. No. There was a man, he injected me. I can't remember…The Riddler. _My eyes opened wide._ Why? Why would he do something like that?_

_**- - - - - - - - - - - — — — - — — - — - - - - — - - - - - — -**_

_**A/N I am so sorry for long this took. Thank you so much for the reviews. I got a new laptop and my old laptop decided not to let me open up the story, but eventually I got it.**_

_**Anyways I hope you enjoyed this, next chapter will be up hopefully next week and will feature far more riddler. Riddler is a tough character to write for and definetly requires a lot of research so bear with me 3**_

_**-Ruthie**_


	3. I'm a receptionist, Get me out of here!

I passed out…again.

I could hear the sound of an alarm pulsating. Everything went red.

"We have to move!" Someone shouted.

"Dr. Cassidy, if we leave this room, we will die!" It sounded like Doctor Young's voice.

"Penelope if we remain here, we'll die, several inmates have been detected heading in this direction, we can board ourselves up in the Arkham archives, we'll be safe there."

"Yes, lets board ourselves up with all the inmates weapons, so they can come looking for them and kill us."

"No! We can use their weapons against them in defense. It's our only option."

"What about Ms. Denton? She's still too weak to move."

" Rocko, Jenkins, Both of you can help carry her to the archives." She gestured at two male nurses. "We have to move now!"

…

_*ratatatatat*_

"GET DOWN!" Dr. Young and the other workers ducked behind a desk.

"Sweetie, I wanna play outside with the others!"

"Not yet HARLEY, not until we pay Doctor Chen a visit, I know he's still holding my things, and I WANT THEM BACK!"

The pair of voices made their way down to surgery where Doctor Chen was boarded up.

"Shit! that was the Joker!"

"Never mind that now, Penelope. We have to keep moving!"

…

"Are we…are we." I muttered.

"Yes, Ame we're safe now." Doctor Cassidy assured.

I got up slowly, rocking gently side to side, trying to regain my balance.

"Where are we?"

"Arkham Archives, home to every last confiscated inmate collection. We need to search for weapons, it might be the only way we stay safe in here. So everyone spread out."

I rummaged through some boxes and found some of the Mad Hatter's playing cards. Useless to me without his hat, and it was missing. Cracking open another box, I discovered Mr. Freeze's freeze rays. Also useless to all of us considering how heavy they were. I saw it in the corner. _Becky's Scythe. _It was best to leave it alone, I was certain she'd be coming back for it.

Some Joker gadgets._Dangerous._ Chattering teeth. Masks. A riddle book. A RIDDLE BOOK. This must be his. The one I read about. I shoved it into my jacket pocket for safe keeping. I didn't know what I planned on keeping it for, but it felt important. Then I saw it, his cane. I thought I had seen him with one on the news. He must have dozens. And was it…I flickered it on. It was! His shock cane, used kinda like a long distance taser. Perfect. Maybe, I'll survive this. And maybe I'll get a more comfortable job afterwards.

When we collected our weapons we all came and sat in a well formed circle in the middle of the warehouse. Bangs. Screaming. Terror. We heard it all, coming from around us. Praying it would be over soon.

Just on that thought, the doors bursted open! It was the Riddler and the Scarecrow with his Mistress of Fear in tow. He spotted me with his cane.

"Madame, I implore you to release my cane at once!" I didn't move. I didn't know how. He was so….it was tough to describe. Intimidating? Terrifying? Handsome? No. So anyways, Dr. Young spoke up,

" Please leave us be, we aren't here to steal your things Edward, we are only defending ourselves."

He stifled a laugh. "Now, Doctor Young, I assure you no harm will come to any of you, we only came here for our things and then we'll be off." I relinquished the Riddler's cane and rolled it over to him. He thanked me, the rest of them rummaged through the boxes looking for the rest of their things.

Jonathan Crane and Becky went rummaging through their things. Becky ran over to the corner and grabbed her scythe. The riddler grabbed the Mad Hatter's cards that I had found earlier, and both Scarecrow and Riddler attempted to grab Mr. Freeze's gun together but it just was not budging. "Maybe we'll just leave this here." They managed to haul a pair of shock gloves, and a flamethrower belonging to firefly instead. They also squandered a metal jaw that screamed King Shark. But now the Riddler moved around searching every last trunk. When he discovered his own, he knew it had been raided, and that since he had found me already with his cane, that I was the one who raided it.

"Where is it?" He stared straight into me with serious eyes. "WHERE. IS. IT." A burning rage was welling up in him as I knew exactly what he was talking about. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled it out and extended my arm out while gripping the book.

"How bold you must be, to steal from the Riddler! How bold indeed!" He strikes fear into me with only his eyes alone. His deep green eyes. He whipped the book out of my hands and pivoted away from me.

"I didn't mean to steal it. I guess I didn't quite really know what I was going to do with it." He paused in his steps.

" I read your file and read about the book. Not in a creepy way. Detective Gordon ordered me to pull it up. I guess I was going to try to return it to you, somehow. Stupidly impossible, I know." I cowered.

"Thank you dear, for your honesty. and thank you in that case, for keeping it safe."

"I know it was you. I know you were the one who saved me. Why?"

He giggled. And then furrowed his brow. " Sometimes I don't quite know why I do things myself. It seemed pointless to kill you, you're just a receptionist, a secretary for an asylum."

"Yea I guess I get that a lot." I sighed. "Unimportant."

"Would you rather I had left you to die."

I didn't answer.

"I see," he said. Then he smiled. "Well I think it's high time we make you important!" Suddenly I was being grabbed and swung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I was being kidnapped.

"Wait, wait. Ok no." I swore

"It's too late to back out now, think of all the press!" and away we went.

—

Sorry it took me this long. I'm terrible at this haha. Ok yay we're done with the asylum (for now) See you all in the new year for chapter 4 and a better title. Because I hate the title, its too ordinary. Thanks for the reviews and faves. Much appreciated. -Ruthie xx


End file.
